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AZ Prairie Dog Fun-- Trip Report and After Action Review
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<blockquote data-quote="benchracer" data-source="post: 1226783" data-attributes="member: 22069"><p><strong>MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong>Based on other prairie dog hunting reports I have read, I had some expectations that turned out to be off base: </p><p></p><p>First, I expected the action to be fast and furious. Instead, it was slower than I expected and cyclical. The difference might simply be the location, since AZ is not known as prime PD territory. Maybe things are different elsewhere.</p><p></p><p>I also found shooting PD's to be more difficult than I had expected. Rather than blowing dumb, unsuspecting little rodents neatly from the tops of their dirt mounds, we spent the day spotting them in the grass and on the move. They were aware of our presence and often darted from concealment to concealment. In retrospect, I have come to regard this as a pleasant surprise. The reality of the situation made for a challenging outing, with a much increased fun factor.</p><p></p><p>Red Mist was another expectation of mine that was dashed upon the rocks of reality. I really thought that my 22-250 would produce some red mist and air time. Though it was an emphatic killer, it produced neither air time nor red mist. Interestingly enough, the most dramatic kill of the day was produced by my buddy's MVP. Despite a difference in mv of around 700 fps, there was little difference in observable impact between the 5.56 and the 22-250. The real difference between the two was that the 22-250 was easier to shoot in the wind and at longer distance.</p><p></p><p>Under the conditions we experienced, I came away with the distinct impression that a person could do quite well with a 3-9 or 3-10 magnification hunting scope (though I would still want parallax adjustment). My buddy had a Nikon 6-18 on his rifle and I had a 6-24x Midway special on my rifle. Though it didn't surprise me that mirage forced us to keep the power on our scopes turned down, I was surprised that we both ended up staying around 8x pretty much all day, not because of mirage, but because we needed the field of view to find and engage PD's, who were often on the move. Even more surprising to me was that I never felt handicapped by the need to remain on low magnification. Quite the contrary, in fact. Though I am quite satisfied with my choice in optics, it was a revelation to me that high magnification wasn't really needed.</p><p></p><p>As a corollary to this, I brought my spotting scope, but quickly abandoned its use in favor of my Steiner 8x30 Predator binoculars. The binoculars were much more useful, something that came as a bit of a surprise to me.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="benchracer, post: 1226783, member: 22069"] [B]MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS [/B]Based on other prairie dog hunting reports I have read, I had some expectations that turned out to be off base: First, I expected the action to be fast and furious. Instead, it was slower than I expected and cyclical. The difference might simply be the location, since AZ is not known as prime PD territory. Maybe things are different elsewhere. I also found shooting PD's to be more difficult than I had expected. Rather than blowing dumb, unsuspecting little rodents neatly from the tops of their dirt mounds, we spent the day spotting them in the grass and on the move. They were aware of our presence and often darted from concealment to concealment. In retrospect, I have come to regard this as a pleasant surprise. The reality of the situation made for a challenging outing, with a much increased fun factor. Red Mist was another expectation of mine that was dashed upon the rocks of reality. I really thought that my 22-250 would produce some red mist and air time. Though it was an emphatic killer, it produced neither air time nor red mist. Interestingly enough, the most dramatic kill of the day was produced by my buddy's MVP. Despite a difference in mv of around 700 fps, there was little difference in observable impact between the 5.56 and the 22-250. The real difference between the two was that the 22-250 was easier to shoot in the wind and at longer distance. Under the conditions we experienced, I came away with the distinct impression that a person could do quite well with a 3-9 or 3-10 magnification hunting scope (though I would still want parallax adjustment). My buddy had a Nikon 6-18 on his rifle and I had a 6-24x Midway special on my rifle. Though it didn't surprise me that mirage forced us to keep the power on our scopes turned down, I was surprised that we both ended up staying around 8x pretty much all day, not because of mirage, but because we needed the field of view to find and engage PD's, who were often on the move. Even more surprising to me was that I never felt handicapped by the need to remain on low magnification. Quite the contrary, in fact. Though I am quite satisfied with my choice in optics, it was a revelation to me that high magnification wasn't really needed. As a corollary to this, I brought my spotting scope, but quickly abandoned its use in favor of my Steiner 8x30 Predator binoculars. The binoculars were much more useful, something that came as a bit of a surprise to me. [/QUOTE]
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